The Circle Continues
by TK Tiger
Summary: This is a 2 year old attempt at a multi-person Fan Fic. This file was originally 7 files that I have thrown together. Further editing will happen but I just wanted to get something up first. Contains Sarabi's death and Zira attacking Simba.


The Lion King: The Circle Continues - Part 1  
Sections S5-A1-5.

The gumph: All Disney characters are owned by Disney and all non Disney characters are owned by myself (that's Andrew "TK Tiger" House) with the exception of Ahieu owned by John Burkitt. This was written in past tense and edited to present tense by Timon "Timmypup" Wakeham. Please note, this is NOT the final draft – this is just a collection of chapters thrown together to test readers reactions. Comments more than welcome.  
- TK Tiger.

After the arrival of her cubs and the defeat of Scar, Zira thinks that she owes something to Scar. After all, he had chosen one of her sons to be the future King, and Simba's return was getting in the way of her control over the Pride Lands.  
"Simba killed Scar, so I must kill Simba." Zira begins to ponder over the many different ways she could defeat the King but something made her plans difficult; Simba was a lot more powerful than Zira was and he had been in (and won) many more battles.  
"What I need is a plan, yes...a plan!" She thinks as she stalks small animals in the long savannah grass. "With Simba being King it prevents Kovu from taking his rightful place on Pride Rock. Kovu must be King, I want my control over the Pride Lands. And I want Simba dead!" On that word she pounces on a small mouse. Almost crushed to death by the weight of Zira's paw, the little mouse cries out in pain and terror.  
"Poor little thing." Zira says to the mouse in patronising tones. "Your final moments in life will be filled with such fear and pain!" She laughs a quiet, evil laugh as she sinks her teeth into the small body of the creature. The mouse cries no more. Zira begins to think out loud, "The joys of killing mice are nothing compared to the joy I will get from killing Simba!" Zira pauses, as if thinking about what she'd just said, before tucking in to her small but tasty snack.  
Back on Pride Rock, Simba is sunning himself in the early afternoon sun, looking down at the world as he lies on the tip. However he is without rest. Nala senses his discomfort and comes up beside him, poking her nose into his rich, full mane.  
"Something the matter?" she asks.  
"No, yes, err…well, I'm not sure!" Simba replies, a little alarmed.  
"Did I scare you?"  
"No, it's just...never mind!" Simba gets up and starts to walk down towards the cave.  
"Simba, wait." Nala calls, coming after him. "You're keeping something from me. I can tell!"  
Simba stops. He turns and looks deep into Nala's eyes, he knew he could not lie to her.   
"I have these feelings Nala. Something bad is going to happen. Don't ask me how I know, I just do!" Simba lowers his head, "And I don't think there is anything I can do about it."  
"Oh, Simba. Everyone has those types of feelings every now and again, nothing normally comes of it."  
"I know, but what if..."  
Nala cuts him off. "We can't go living our lives thinking 'What if' all the time. If you're so worried then go and speak to Rafiki, he should be able to set you straight." She walks over and nuzzles him.  
"You're right, it's probably nothing." Feeling more relaxed he carries on down Pride Rock and in to the cave, out of the heat of the burning sun.  
  
"Yes!! I've got it!" Zira quickly looks up, to see if anyone had heard her shout. However it seems her cry had gone unnoticed. Relieved, Zira hides back in the long grass to think out her plan in more detail. "Yes, it's a great plan, but I'm going to need some help." She thinks for a while before getting up to drum up support from those who were loyal to Scar or who were scared of Zira.

Afternoon turned to dusk and dusk turned to dawn, but Simba couldn't stop thinking something was wrong, despite what Nala had said.   
"Nala." he says, poking her awake with his nose. "Nala. I still have that feeling, and last night I had a dream about the stampede. I'm going to see Rafiki like you said I should do."  
"I'm glad you are." she says, "If it will stop you fretting then I really think you should."  
"You coming?"  
"I would darling, only I promised Zira I'd take care of Vitani and Kovu while she hunted this morning."  
"Who's looking after Nuka?"  
"Sarabi again, she's taken quite a shine to Nuka hasn't she?"  
"Yes, she has, but I can't think why."  
He shakes his head as he walks out the cave and makes his way to Rafiki's tree. Little does Simba know that he has every right to feel like there was something wrong, for Zira has gained a small army together.  
  
After saying goodbye to the cubs, leaving them in Nala's care, Zira and her hunting party go out to hunt and talk about the demise of Simba,   
"When we go on the dawn hunt next week, we'll wait by the water hole for Simba to arrive alone, and when he lets his guard down...WHAM!!" Zira's eyes narrow, "And when he's down and weak, we'll kill him!"   
The last sentence is followed by some quiet agreed growling, for the lionesses don't want to scare the herds away.  
"But this is treason!" a few of the lionesses say,   
"You'd better believe it! And it's glorious too!" Zira replies, laughing as she and the rest of her hunting party continue the hunt for food.  
  
Soon after Zira had departed, Sarabi came by and picked Nuka up from Nala. It is true that Sarabi has taken a shine to Nuka, she saw him as a little fool waiting to blossom into a great thinker, and if this was the case then the more that she could do to prevent Nuka from becoming too much like Scar, the better. Sarabi often uses any time with Nuka to try and educate him, and tell stories of the past as well as stories handed down from lion generation to generation. Despite his youth, Nuka at least looks as if he understands, even if none of the knowledge goes in and stays in. They spend a great many hours of the morning just walking together over the savannah, with Sarabi telling him about the plants and the flowers. As they walk on this particular morning Nuka looks up at Sarabi.   
"Auntie Sarabi, tell me a story from your past please."  
"Well, alright." Sarabi pauses while she thinks of a good story to tell Nuka. She thought about telling the story of Simba's birth, but she tells herself, "If I want him to avoid turning in to the next Scar, I've got to teach him about Scar." The journey they were taking took a sharp turn towards the gorge, where Scar had killed Mufasa, many moons ago. Tears begin to form in Sarabi's eyes, but she fights to hold them back as she remembers her great husband. Tears of sadness turn to tears of rage when she thinks how Scar killed her Mufasa. The tears then turn to tears of determination as she had secretly vowed never to let Nuka fall under the spell of power and greed.  
"Where are we going Auntie Sarabi?"  
"To a place that holds a special place in my heart, it's the spot where..." Sarabi pauses to take a long painful breath, "Scar murdered the King, my husband, Mufasa!"  
Nuka says nothing, he just looks up at Sarabi with wide eyes.   
It was a long while before the gorge was reached, the sun had moved and now shone down the gorge, casting long shadows of the jagged edges.  
"This," says Sarabi, as they stand on the edge of the cliff above the exact spot where Scar had flung Mufasa in to the wildebeest stampede. "Is where a great King met his death at the paws of Scar." Nuka looks confused so Sarabi decides that actions speak louder than words. She explains in great detail what Simba had told her, how he climbed on to a tree to avoid the wildebeest, and how Mufasa had braved getting killed, just to save his son.   
"Then just as Mufasa had put Simba down on a ledge..." Sarabi continues, "The stampede swept him away. Mufasa then used his last big burst of energy to jump out of the stampede and cling on to a rock face. Scar grabbed on to Mufasa and threw him off the side into the raging line of animals below."   
Nuka took a look over the edge and looks back at Sarabi as if to say "It's a long way down!" He then returns his gaze over the side again. Sarabi joins him at the edge, looking down she spies a ledge a short way down. Sarabi then ponders on the thought of dangling Nuka over the edge, over this platform. Even if he did fall he would land of the ledge and be alright. She pauses while the pros and cons are weighed up. Finally Sarabi decides that it is safe to dangle Nuka over the edge.   
"Want to see how Mufasa felt?" asks Sarabi. Nuka nods so Sarabi lies down, half over the edge. She then holds tightly on to Nuka's forepaws with her own and lowers him over the edge. Sarabi checks that the ledge is there just under Nuka in case he slips,   
"You want to fall a little way, just to know what falling over a cliff feels like?" she jokes, Nuka shakes his head. Nuka never says much apart from the odd cry when he wants something and the occasional question. Respecting Nuka's wishes, Sarabi starts to pull Nuka back on to the grass. However, all does not go according to plan, Nuka doesn't quite make it to the grass for Sarabi slips forward a little. In a flash she had let go of Nuka to steady herself, throwing him out as she did so. She then suddenly realises that she'd dropped Nuka.  
"NUKA!" she shouts, looking down. Nuka has fallen quite a long distance, missing the landing post he was meant to land on, but has fallen on to a shelf sticking out of the rocky gorge wall. Nuka has been winded but otherwise unhurt, he looks up at Sarabi with a "What did you do that for?" expression on his face. "Stay there!!" Sarabi calls. She starts to panic. She stretches a paw from her current position but Nuka is too far, she has to get lower in order to be able to save him.   
After a short prayer to Aiheu, Sarabi climbs down on to the platform she had intended to drop Nuka on to. She is now a little closer and within possible reaching distance. Lying down on the ledge, which is too small to support her properly, she reaches out for Nuka.   
"Nuka, reach out and place your paw in mine!" she commands. Nuka does so, and tries to pull himself up Sarabi's arm, but Sarabi isn't ready for this pull. She feels her body move forwards violently, there is nothing she can do that would stop herself coming forwards off the rock she was lying on. Screaming she falls from the ledge. She plummets head-first on to the small platform which had saved Nuka. Her impact smashes her nose, cracks her cheek bone, which in turn punctures her left eye ball. She bounces off the ledge and carries on falling, hitting many rocks and ledges on the way with sickening cracks and thuds until she comes to rest at the bottom of the gorge. There she lies in a pool of her own blood with most of her teeth missing, her right eyeball hanging out, her left eye skewered by her cheek bone and her once beautiful face and body gone forever in a pile of out-sticking broken bone and blood. Her final words are never heard and her final breath is taken as she lands. Her final resting place is just inches from where her husband had taken his dying breath, all that time ago.  
Nuka had watched in horror as Sarabi tumbled down the face of the gorge. He winced as he heard each and every thud of the lioness meeting the rocky juts and ledges. When Sarabi had hit the final rock which had flung her outwards into the centre of the gorge Nuka turned away, unable to witness the final impact. A loud "Ooff" as Sarabi had her last breath knocked out of her, signified the end of the bloody descent. When all is silent Nuka finds the courage to look over the edge of his perch. He sees little of Sarabi until the dust around her settles. When he has a clear enough view he can see the bleeding mess that was once a lioness. Sarabi had landed in such a way that her now horribly deformed face was pointing in Nuka's direction. This scares Nuka, who quickly withdraws his glance. After quite a long while, Nuka takes another look at the body. With the initial shock gone, Nuka now finds that he can look at the body for a long time. He stands waiting for Sarabi's chest to rise and fall, like the other lionesses do when they sleep, however this action fails to take place and it begins to slowly sink in to Nuka's brain that Sarabi is dead. As Nuka realises that he is looking over a dead body he notices a stench of death is filling the air, and it appears that Nuka isn't the only one smelling death; buzzards are circling over, looking at what they see as a feast. Nuka wants to get down to Sarabi to protect her from the hungry birds, but each rock is too far apart for Nuka to jump and most have been stained with Sarabi's blood as she hit them. Nuka finds himself totally helpless, so he does what any child in his situation would do:  
"Help! Somebody help, Auntie Sarabi's dead!!"  
Zazu, who had gone to investigate the bird circle, hears Nuka's screams and at once flies back to tell Simba who is still with Rafiki.  
"Simba!" calls Zazu. "Simba, trouble, at the gorge!"  
"The gorge?!" Simba asks. Just the mention of that place brings back many painful memories. Simba looks at Rafiki, who stares back with a sad look in his eye.  
"Go Simba, but be prepared for the worst."  
"You know something, don't you Rafiki?!"  
"Well, you had the feeling something bad was..." Rafiki starts, but Simba is already leaving with Zazu.  
  
Nuka hasn't seen Zazu, so is unaware that Simba is on his way. It is quite a distance from Rafiki's Baobab tree to the gorge so it will take Simba a while to reach it. In this time, a helpless Nuka is having a fit, screaming out and crying from his platform above the death scene. Although the drop is a long one with a hard landing and the distance between platforms is far too far to jump Nuka decides that he has to at least try and do SOMETHING! So he looks down and sees a ledge that is lower down but too far to reach, but since it is his only hope he decides to jump for it. Meanwhile Simba is running at top speed towards the gorge, with Zazu flying ahead. Namna sees Simba leave the Baobab tree and so curiously goes to see Rafiki himself. What he doesn't know is that he is going to play a vital part in Nuka's rescue. Namna is, like Rafiki, a healer and although his paws aren't made for crushing plants he manages quite well by stomping on them and twisting his foot. Administering the concoctions is always tricky but he often manages to improvise and at most times the drug is taken. When Rafiki sees Namna he gets quite excited.   
"Namna, follow Simba to the gorge. Take these roots, you'll need them." says Rafiki, giving him a pouch of roots, made out of a large leaf, with a vine as a handle which he hangs round Namna's neck.  
"But Rafiki, what do I...." Namna starts but Rafiki cuts him off.  
"Don't ask questions, there is no time for that. You'll know what to do when you get there! Just go!"  
"But..."  
"GO!"  
  
Nuka closes his eyes. He walks backwards until he feels his back foot dangle off the edge. He runs forwards until he runs out of ground. It was only a few steps and not a lot of speed was amassed in this run. When the ground is no more he pushes with his back feet and dives towards the ledge. His eyes are shut tight and his front feet are outstretched as he flies through the air, hoping to land safely on the area of his aiming. Nuka lands with a thud on the platform he wants to land on. The platform wasn't too far to reach after all. Nuka's landing was far from perfect as the wind was knocked out of him on the impact. He slowly rises to his feet and looks at himself to asses the damage. He is fine apart from a few cuts and grazes. The next two platforms are in easy reach and Nuka climbs down them with ease. The final ten feet of the drop is manageable with the aid of the gorge wall, sloping down to the floor. Nuka starts running down the slope but trips over his legs and tumbles the rest of the way. He rolls into the centre of the gorge, next to Sarabi. As Nuka stops rolling, Simba and Zazu arrive at the gorge. Simba looks over the edge to see the two lions lying next to each other, he recognises Nuka but doesn't know the lioness.  
"Zazu, find Rafiki. Nuka's chest is rising and falling, he's still alive!"  
"No need to find Rafiki," says Namna arriving at the scene. "I'm here."  
Both lions make short work of the gorge wall and are soon with Nuka and Sarabi. Simba glances at the lioness but his attention is drawn towards Nuka.   
"Simba, move Nuka so you can put the side of his head on your paw, so his mouth's off the ground." Namna commands, with a hint of urgency in his voice. Simba does so while Namna extracts a claw and rips the vine around his neck, he stamps on the pouch as it lands on the ground. After making sure the roots were mixed Namna picks up the pouch, which had remained whole despite the crushing it had just received, and pierces it with a claw and pours the contents into Nuka's mouth. Namna then moves Nuka's jaw up and down until Nuka swallows. The two lions wait for a reaction.  
"I only hope I've done everything right." Namna says, "Rafiki just told me I'd know what to do when I got here. I just relied on instinct."  
The tense waiting time is shortly over as Nuka coughs a couple of times and then stands up.  
"Uncle Simba, I'm hurting all over." Nuka moans.  
"Don't worry." says Simba in a reassuring tone. "Everything's going to be fine."  
"But what about Auntie Sarabi?"  
"What about her....?" asks Simba as he begins to realise who the lioness is. He spins his head round to take a closer look at the body. He freezes in horror when he finally recognises the dead lioness. Namna says nothing but picks up Nuka in his mouth and walks along the gorge, looking for an easy climb up the wall. Simba runs over to where his mother lies. He stands over his mother's body and cries. Sarabi is with Aiheu now.  
It was dark before Simba decided to leave Sarabi's body. Namna had taken Nuka back to Pride Rock and many hours had passed since. Namna had taken it upon himself to tell the other lionesses the bad news, and they all remained silent when Simba's roars were heard coming from the direction of the gorge. The news of Sarabi's demise had upset all the lionesses expect one. Zira is overjoyed. This was the chance she had been waiting for - Simba is alone and emotionally distraught. She quickly gets an evening hunt sorted out with her pack of followers and they leave, on a seek and destroy mission.   
"Good luck." calls Nala as she watches the group depart, "I hope you make a kill!"  
"So do I." chuckles Zira, "So do I!"  
Tukufu walks up to Nala, "I don't trust Zira. She seems rather eager to hunt tonight, and Simba is alone out there. I think Zira has gone out to see Simba dead!"  
"What gives you that idea?" asks Nala, somewhat bemused.  
"We all know how Zira felt about Scar's death, maybe tonight she wants her revenge! As I said, Simba is alone and so he's an easy target. Zira is no fool. She'll have seen this opportunity and taken it!"  
"I'm sure you're overreacting, but if you want to follow Zira then go by all means, just to put your mind at rest." Nala says, before settling down to sleep while Tukufu runs off to get some support. Imara is talking to Tamika when Tukufu runs up. She had already gathered Shakira and Haraka who are following close behind.  
"Sorry to barge in on your chat." starts Tukufu, "But we think Zira and her hunting party are out to attack Simba."  
"Don't be daft!" laughs Imara, "Zira knows that we are the best hunters, she'd have chosen us!"  
"But we are loyal to Simba!" Shakira points out, "And we would've reported her actions to Simba. She knows we'd never kill him"  
"So, why would she choose now? She must've had hundreds of other chances." asks Imara.  
"Because Simba is alone!!!" is the answer from the other four lionesses.  
"Ohhhh!! But he's been alone before...!" says Imara but stops when she sees the other lionesses turn round, "Wait for me!" she calls as she runs to catch up her friends. The five lionesses quickly run off to follow Zira's hunting party.  
  
The wall of the gorge is high but in the faint moonlight Simba can just make out an easy climb back up to the top from where he came.   
"Darn!" Simba thinks, as he climbs, "This is steeper than I thought!"   
He finally makes it to the top and slowly starts walking back to Pride Rock. As he walks a thick mist starts to envelope the Pride Lands, covering all that it touches and masking it in a cloudy vapour. The mist makes getting back to Pride Rock rather difficult and Simba struggles to find his way. He thinks he knows which way to go but his instincts keep telling him to go another way. Deciding not to follow his instincts, because of the large change in direction, Simba walks on through the fog. After what seems like hours of aimless wondering, Simba decides he needs a rest. He lies on the now wet grass and begins to drift off to sleep. As his eyelids shut he hears a soft padding in the grass. He wakes up at once and stands up tall.   
"Who are you?" he demands.   
"Why, Simba. It's only little me and my hunting party!" chuckles Zira.   
"Zira, why are you out so late? You're not going to find anything to kill in this mist!"   
"Oh, but we are, and we already have!"   
Simba looks around to see that he is entirely surrounded by Zira's followers. He soon realises that HE is the creature the hunting party are out to kill. The tight circle of lionesses around him prevents any form of escape without severe injury, or at least a hard fight, and, being heavily out-numbered, Simba doesn't fancy his chances of winning. The circle creeps closer and Simba begins to think tactics. He knows that he can't make the first move because once he makes a move he knows he'd be mauled by his attackers. His only option is to wait for Zira to command the first move and then to counter and escape.  
  
Tukufu and her party find it hard to follow Zira's party in the mist and before long they are hopelessly lost.  
"It's funny," comments Shakira, "I know my way around with my eyes closed, but I can't find my way around in this mist."  
"So, what are we going to do now?" asks Imara.  
Tukufu hangs her head, "I don't know, I really don't know." Almost as soon as she has finished talking the five lionesses hear a warning roar of a male lion, which sounds like Simba and close.  
"Could it be?"   
"Maybe?"  
"We should check."  
"Let's go!"   
So, following the voice, they all run off into the mist.  
  
"Stay back Zira," growls Simba. "You know you can't win!"  
"Ohh, but I can!" laughs Zira, "ATTACK!!!"  
On the command three of Zira's followers jump at Simba, claws out and teeth bared. Simba sees a door in the circle open and he quickly rolls under the airborne lionesses to exit the group. However the other lionesses notice Simba's roll and the opening is quickly closed. Simba is now down on the group and open to attack. All around him Simba is trying to dodge paws swiping around his face and reeling back in pain when someone lands a hit. Simba tries his best to fight back but the sheer number against him prevents him from doing so.  
Suddenly out of nowhere five lionesses appear out of the mist, attacking Zira's forces. Imara jumps on to Zira's back and bites hard into her ear, tearing a chunk out of it. Zira roars in pain and throws herself backwards, throwing Imara off. All the other lionesses stop fighting to watch the battle whilst Tukufu and Shakira quickly see to Simba. Despite the mauling he has just received Simba is fairly unhurt apart from a large number of cuts to his side and face, he is bleeding but not heavily.  
Landing flat on her back, Imara quickly gets up and takes another lunge at Zira. Zira quickly side-steps, turns and back kicks Imara out of the air. Imara shrieks in pain as Zira embeds her back feet into Imara's chest. As Imara lands heavily on the ground Zira laughs, the blood from her ear trickles down her face, matting her fur. Imara slowly gets up and shakes herself. She looks deep into Zira's eyes, she runs at Zira in an attempt to knock her over, but Zira stands on her hind legs and swipes with her paw and catches Imara right across the face. The scream of pain can be heard for miles through the mist as Zira's claws rip across Imara's face, catching her right across both eyes and blinding her instantly. As Imara falls to the ground with blood pouring out of the cuts Zira walks over to her. She shakes her head, flicking little droplets of blood, and then lowers her head and whispers into Imara's ear,   
"I win!"   
Zira then bites into Imara's neck, puncturing the vein. The bite will lead to a slow, painful death. Zira looks up, a smile visible through the blood set upon her face. She looks directly into the eyes of her horrified audience. All they see as they look into Zira's eyes is pure evil, even her followers are a little scared. Zira turns and flees into the mist, leaving the bloody battlefield behind her and her victim lying on the ground, with a pool of blood collecting under the neck.


End file.
